Even though this website is all
about Wiring, a Wireless Network can enhance your Structured
Wiring System a great deal. In fact, as I'll demonstrate here,
having a well planned Structured Wiring system will enhance the
performance of a Wireless network.

Wireless Overview

There are two types of wireless
network that are available for home networking - 802.11b and 802.11a.
A third type, 802.11g is on the way.

802.11a
- is 54 Mbps (Million bits per second) network that is relatively new
but is commercially available now. It is quite a bit more expensive
though. 802.11a operates on a 5GHz frequency band that is less likely
to be interfered with by commonly used household items.

802.11b
- is a 11 Mbps network that is in widespread used now and prices for
the hardware are dropping quickly. Some manufacturers have now adapted
modulation techniques that achieve a 22 Mbps speed. D-Link for one has
22 Mbps hardware available which is what I have added to my Structured
Wiring system. 802.11b operates in a 2.4 GHz band that is also used by
2.4 GHz cordless phones commonly used in the home. Microwave ovens
also use this band. There is a lot of concern about interference
interference between these devices. I have a 2.4 GHz phone and I can
sit at my laptop with an 802.11b card in place and operating while
talking on the cordless at the same with no real interference problems
to date. In actual use 802.11 will connect at rates in the area of 3.5
Mbps to 4.5 Mbps. Reviews on the D-Link 22 Mbps system I bought
achieved connect rates around 6.5 Mbps. These rates are only achieved
when the RF (Radio Frequency) signal levels are the strongest
and under the best conditions. When signal levels drop so do the
connect speeds.

Wireless speeds cannot come
near the 100 Mbps fast ethernet that my Structured Wiring system
supports. Wireless, being wireless, does has some substantial
advantages but does have some severe limitations. Security is also a
major concern for wireless networks. With a range of 300 ft and more,
your neighbors and anybody outside your home can pick up your signal.

802.11g
- Is a 3rd type. It will operate at a much higher rate of
54Mbps and at 2.4GHz. As you might expect this equipment will
initially be more expensive but will drop quickly as it becomes more
popular. I believe this standard has the most potential to be the most
popular standard in the not too distant future.

Compact Flash Card - usually used on handhelds such
as Palm Pilots and Palm PC's.D-Link
CDF-660W

Access Points (AP)

AP's are usually standalone
'boxes' that attach or bridge your wireless network to your wired network via an ethernet
cable. AP are also available simply as an AP or can be combined with a
hub, a switch or a broadband route and even come as an AP with Router
and multi-port switch. Shown below is a typical AP with router and 4
port switch. AP can even include a Print Server.D-Link
DI-614+

You can attach a WNA to your pc
but now you need something for it to link wirelessly to. WNA's can
link to another WNA or they can link to an AP. In the Ad-hoc mode
WNA's can link to another WNA. In the Infrastructure mode a WNA will
link to an AP. There are other websites that go into this in more
detail than I will here and I'll have links to some of these website
on my Links page. One particularly good
website is at Home
Net Help and Small Net
Builder.

The most common configuration
for a home network is to have an AP and one or more WNA's. This is the
configuration that I'll focus on here. I'll go one step further here
and say that the most ideal configuration for a combination of wired
and wireless networks is to use a simple AP and NOT to use an AP
combined with a router/switch combination. I'll explain why.

The wired network system has
the tremendous advantage of MUCH higher speeds and far fewer security
concerns. A wired ethernet system operates at 100Mbps -vs- the 3 to 5Mbps
that you end up with in an 802.11b network. The security of today's
802.11b has been widely criticized as being highly vulnerable. Worst
yet most wireless systems will come from the factory with
ALL of their security features DISABLED. It then becomes your
responsibility to learn about these security features and figure out
how to enable them.

I am not slamming wireless
systems here. I have added an AP and a WNA to my own structured wiring
system. You just need to know the limitations the wireless links have
and how to enable the feeble security features it does have.